Zhenya Denizeri , permanent makeup master with 13 years of experience, international class teacher, founder of the Jenya Permanent Makeup ART Academy (Istanbul), official representative of the Bioderma Logic brand (MTDERM, Germany), speaker of congresses in the field of permanent makeup, jury member of international competitions , organizer of master classes of foreign permanent makeup masters and congresses in Turkey, founder of the clothing brand for masters J-line, representative and coach of the A&I team in Turkey, coach and representative of the Luxus PlasmaLiner team in Turkey, official representative of Kodi Professional in Turkey

If you are a beginner in the field of permanent makeup or are faced with the choice of opening your own studio or renting an office for work, then the first thing you will encounter is pricing. Due to the fact that the theoretical interpretation of price currently remains a debatable issue, a simplified formulation has become widespread, according to which the price is the amount of money (goods, services) for which the seller agrees to sell, and the buyer is ready to buy a unit of goods or services.

At the stage of preparation for pricing, many are guided only by competitors. This is the biggest mistake, since the human factor plays a big role in the services, influencing the decision to purchase by the consumer. The optimal price for a service consists of three main parts (Table 1):

1. consumer factor. This is the highest price threshold that a buyer is willing to pay for a service. This is our demand.
   This factor most often affects the rise in prices for services in the process of work, that is, it is better to provide two services per day for 500 hryvnias than five services for 200 hryvnias.
2. The company or master providing the service. He sets a minimum price and, if he lowers it even lower, he will work at a loss. What affects the price:

• rent for the premises for work;
• public utilities;
• marketing - promotion of services;
• taxation;
• materials for work;
• payment of personnel (lawyer, accountant, administrator, etc.).

3. Competitors usually set the bar for us from the minimum price to the maximum. It is worth considering those of your competitors that are on an equal footing with you. For example, you should not consider the owner of a network of studios across the country and selling a franchise to be a competitor if you are an aspiring master who rented an office.

Table 1

What are the charges per hour?

The cost of services is the sum of all costs, expressed in monetary terms, that an enterprise has incurred to provide a service.

Consider four approaches to calculating the cost of services:

• method 1: cost price + planned profit;
• method 2: focus on competitors. Here you need to be careful and also consider the cost of your service;
• method 3: share of the client's profit. Here the economic factor plays a role, and this method, in my opinion, is completely unsuitable for calculation. It is impossible to calculate how many pencils and at what cost a client will use for a certain period of time without resorting to a permanent makeup procedure;
• method 4: price + value. It implies the calculation of the cost of a service based on its value, uniqueness, benefit, service and other special measures related to the provision of this service. Moreover, the value can be both tangible and intangible, that is, at the level of emotions and sensations. In this case, the increased cost can be justified by exclusivity and prestige.

The cost of services provided is the total cost of the enterprise. They are divided into the following types:

• direct - wages to employees who are directly involved in the process of providing services;
• indirect - wages to the heads of the enterprise;
• permanent - depreciation deductions. They do not depend on the volume of services rendered;
• variables - the cost of purchasing materials.

Let's sum up and calculate the cost of our working hour. First you need to calculate the working hours per month. The norm of working time of a particular month is calculated as follows: the duration of the working week (40, 39, 36, 30, 24 hours, etc.) is divided by five, multiplied by the number of working days according to the calendar of the five-day working week of a particular month. From the number of hours received, the number of hours in a given month is subtracted by which the working time is reduced on the eve of non-working holidays. Now, knowing the number of hours per month, let's analyze our expenses.

As a basis, we will take 120 working hours per month (this number may vary depending on your working day).

Table of fixed and direct costs

Table of Variables and Indirect Costs

Thus, adding up the data from the table, we can understand: in order not to work at a loss, the minimum cost of one hour of work should be $ 27.92.

How much am I spending?

You should not forget about the costs that you have already incurred for training and office equipment. For example, we purchased a device + basic training worth $5,000, with a planned payback period of 3 years.
Divide the period of use by the number of months - 36, and then by our number of working hours per month - 120.
The result of this example is 1.15, let's add this amount to the cost of one hour of work. Thus, it is possible to calculate such costs as an administrator's computer, a lamp for working with a client, work furniture, etc.

Knowing the components of the price of the service will help us :

• form a general understanding of our earning opportunities;
• build a competent business plan;
• minimize the risks of deposits;
• influence the market price of the service;
• monitor the dynamics of prices for services.

The master can influence the cost of the service in two ways:

• reduce the cost of the service – for example, move to a low-rent facility, lay off an administrator, or change the way you market your services to a cheaper one;
• increase the added cost per procedure. For example, 30% instead of 10%. With this method, you should know some features. In order not to lose old customers, and new ones treated you with confidence, do not immediately increase the cost by more than 30%.
  You can announce to customers in advance that your prices will increase by a certain percentage twice a year, this method can encourage consumers to buy at the old price. You can also pay an additional fee for the service, which was previously included in the price.

Please note that we considered the cost of one hour of work, not the procedure. If you leave 2 hours per client, you can increase your earnings by working with clients, for example, 1.5 hours.

What if you want more?

Properly raising prices means following a set of measures :

• take into account the seasonality of the procedure - for example, increase the price in mid-autumn and early spring, if we are talking about permanent makeup;
• increase consumer demand by adding value to the procedure;
• increase the credibility of yourself as an expert in your field;
• choose the right ways to promote yourself as a brand;
• sell an additional service with the procedure, it can be both material and emotional;
• to be always informed about novelties in the profession.

In conclusion, I would like to add: the most important thing is to appreciate your work, because if you have chosen this profession, it should bring pleasure and a good income. Work is a big part of our life. Do everything with love, and then the successful results of your activities will not be long in coming.

The material was first published in Permanent No. 3(11)/2018